Stay on the Rooftop!

A Reflection on this Friday’s Gospel, Luke 17:26-37. 15 November 2024

     Imagine that you are standing in your home as a fire begins. The only escape is from the roof. The fire department is coming with a ladder truck. The thought crosses your mind that some incredibly important thing is in the burning house below. You think, “perhaps I can reach it in time.” What would you run into the house to save?

     First responders run towards a potentially life-threatening situation when human nature screams, “run away!” Their daily actions exemplify true love. The Lord tells us; “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13 NABRE) The Lord is returning as such a savior.

     When firefighters are coming, running back into a burning building except to save a life is outside the pale of common sense. What “thing” could be that important? To what in this world is your attachment so great that you would risk death?

     In 2019, the British Automobile Association, a nation-wide insurance provider, surveyed over 18,200 customers to determine what they would run back into a burning building to save after making sure family and pets were safe. Surprisingly, seven out of ten (72%) would try to save something with more than one third opting to save their laptop, tablet, or personal computer (36%) and another third (33%) choosing to save their photo albums. About one-fifth (19%) would dash back in for their favorite watch or jewelry. (from the AA)

     Our attachment to “things” can be powerful. The Automobile Association did later advise,

“If there is a fire in your home then our advice is simple – don’t risk it. It is more important to make a quick and safe exit, ensuring all your family and pets are well away from danger and once you are out, stay out.” (The AA)

    The Gospel today presents the same situation. Jesus uses two worldly catastrophes, the Great Flood, and the destruction of Sodom, as comparable to the day that “the Son of Man is revealed.” (Luke 17:30 NABRE) The house is on fire and our Savior is coming. The word for “revealed” in Greek is apŏkaluptō (ἀποκαλύπτω) which is where we get the word apocalypse or the end of this world. Jesus tells His disciples,

On that day, someone who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise one in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of Lot. (Luke 17:31–32 NABRE)

     The Lord is warning us against attachments to whatever keeps us from heaven. These are the “things” or “addictions” in this world that cause us to run back into the burning building. Given that we cannot predict the time of the Lord’s return, we need to wait on the roof. It is our salvation and the salvation of those we love that should concern us. It is an eternal life or death decision. Death is found in those attachments that Lot’s wife gazed back upon as she ran from Gomorrah. We cannot run back down the stairs to retrieve what is rightfully left behind.

     Origen calls such attachments vices. He writes, “For it is the flesh which always looks to vices, which, when the soul is proceeding to salvation, looks backward and seeks after pleasures.” (Orig., Hom. Gen. 5.2)

     The Catechism defines vice as,

a habit acquired by repeated sin in violation of the proper norms of human morality. The vices are often linked with the seven capital sins. Repentance for sin and confession may restore grace to a soul, but the removal of the ingrained disposition to sin or vice requires much effort and self-denial, until the contrary virtue is acquired (CCC Glossary).

     Simply put, vices are those inclinations to the sins that we repeat time after time in confession. My Confessor, who is also my Spiritual Director, knows my vices by heart. The poor man hears them from me all the time. The elimination of vice, addiction to some form of pleasure, power, ambition, and greed take intention and hard work. This is why it is good to go back to the same Priest for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He holds us accountable. That is also why the best Spiritual Director is a Priest who is empowered to dispense life-saving grace. The elimination of vice takes time, effort, and above-all sacramental grace.

     We all feel the pull of the world and worldly attachment. Those “things” or “addictions” that pull us from the safety of the rooftop back into the burning building. Today the Lord is reminding us that He is on His way. Stay on the rooftop. Salvation is at hand! Do not run back into the burning building.

Endnotes:

Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church. 2nd Ed. Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000. Print.

Origen. Homilies on Genesis and Exodus. Ed. Hermigild Dressler. Trans. Ronald E. Heine. Vol. 71. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1982. Print. The Fathers of the Church.

The AA. “What Would You Grab If Your House Was on Fire.” The AA: Automobile Association, Automobile Association Developments Ltd. 2024, www.theaa.com/about-us/newsroom/insurance-news/what-would-you-grab-if-your-house-was-on-fire?msockid=04371e620f9664ee20ed102b0e6b65e8. Accessed 11 Nov. 2024.